Fight The Good Fight

“Fighting the Good Fight”

1 Timothy 1:12-19

Veterans Sunday

Pastor John Bright

1 Timothy 1 “12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.”

1. Zhang Weili 1. Ilia Topuria

2. Valentina Shevchenko 2. Islam Makhachev

3. Kayla Harrison 3. Merab Dvalishvili

4. Cris Cyborg T-4. Tom Aspinall

5. Manon Fiorot T-4. Alex Pereira

Look at the list of names on your teaching sheet. Who are those folks? These are the top 5 women and the top 5 men in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). This is cage fighting. It’s a very rough sport. Lots of broken bones and torn ligaments. As they punch and kick and use their knees to inflict pain, some earn millions, many earn thousands, but most are amateurs who earn nothing.

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Back in the Apostle Paul’s day, they had boxing. The fighters would wrap their hands in leather straps. Between the straps, they inserted a sharp metal blade. Most often, Roman boxing matches were fought to the death, with one fighter dying. I mention this because it is a boxing term that Paul uses in verse 18: “you may fight the battle well.”

He uses the same term in Chapter 6:11-12: “11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” Why use this language of a bloody, deadly sport? To remind Timothy that Christianity is about life and death. Lives hang in the balance! Our veterans know this all too well. Has the church of today forgotten?

Forgotten what? We have forgotten that we are in a battle. We have forgotten that we are engaged in hand-to-hand combat for the eternal spirits of men and women. Here are some things we need to remember:

We need to remember

WE have an enemy

“19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.”

Paul gave this advice to Timothy: 1 Timothy 1:3 “you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer.” You see, in that church, the enemy was attacking from within. Teaching lies is from our enemy, Satan. It can be as subtle as teaching that there is more than one truth. In a time of war, the enemy always tries to work from within to undermine unity in the ranks.

That enemy is Satan. Remember, his ultimate goal is to keep names out of the Lamb’s Book of Life that will be opened in Revelation 20 at the Great White Throne Judgement. The easiest way for Satan to do this is by keeping the church weak and ineffective. If he can destroy unity in our ranks, he wins the battle. So, what keeps us unified?

We need to remember

WE are all saved by grace

“15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”

It’s this belief that keeps us from becoming judgmental and self-righteous. We know that everybody has the same need – we all need a savior because we can’t save ourselves. You see, God made a way – one way – the blood of Jesus. God did that for you and me.

Listen to what Oswald Chambers wrote about this: “The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.”